Pictures of the New House, Part 1

It's still a work in progress - we waited until the sod took root, and the plants started to smile a bit more, before we took an outdoor shot. Still so much to be done, though, but it makes me smile to see all we've done in almost a month so far.

Here it is, our first time, just big enough, huge yard, red fenced new home:

We have three separate garden areas for now in the front, with nothing in the back just yet. Back yard pictures will be taken as soon as we have some gardens made pretty there. As you can see, I love color and bloom.

And there's more to plant, as you can see, sitting there, awaiting a permanent home.

I love sitting on this porch. I love having a porch, period, but I love these chairs, the shade, and being surrounded by plants.

Chairs, table, and pillows all from Bed Bath & Beyond

Our lot is a corner lot, and HUGE. Our lawn wasn't doing too well here in the corner, along the sidewalk, so we dug it up to make a small corner garden. We just planted this a couple days ago. Still fledgling plants, they should be full and thriving soon. Elephant ears, Mexican Heather, Vincas and more.

All plants purchased from Lowes, Home Depot and Walmart.

Our front door has this cathedral glass cut-out on it, which shines beautifully at night (as depicted here), and sends into the room beautiful rainbows in the morning.

Early morning in my home. House is quiet, light is cascading through the window, rainbows on the walls. So lovely.

That's all of the inside you'll get for now, just a small little taste of what we've been up to. Welcome to our home and front yard/entry way. I will be posting more soon, definitely stay tuned. I'm loving every minute of owning our first home!

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Cream Cheese Omelet Lovin'

Once upon a time, in college, I had a friend in my band of friends I'd regularly hang out with. We would go out on the weekends, and do the ever-popular "diner-run" just after our night escapades, and without fail, he'd always order a Cream Cheese Omelet.

Now friends, I'm a cream cheese-a-holic. I love me some cheesecake, and will eat Philly Whipped Cream Cheese by the spoon (or container, whatever). But cream cheese in an omelet? Um, okay!?

And then I tried it. And it's ADDICTING!

Now I love me some regular omelets, but that usually involves washing and cutting and making things bite-size. Making a Cream Cheese Omelet allows me to create a quickie omelet super-fast and super tasty.

Until it became discovered by my cheese-lovin' toddlers, who completely ate one of mine the other day. (I told you it's addicting!) Now, when I make one, they have to have one, too. And my youngest loves it so much. Really much. Like, TOO much.

See?

Who knew? 2 eggs + 3 teaspoons whipped cream cheese = love?

Cream Cheese Omelet

2 organic eggs, whipped in a bowl
tsp butter + organic cooking spray
3 tsps whipped cream cheese

In an omelet pan, preheat pan, spray with cooking spray, and add dollop of butter. Rotate pan so the butter coats the pan, and wait until it begins sizzling, then add your eggs. Once eggs begin to cook through, forming bubbles and the outsides are cooked, flip with a spatula, carefully, and immediately add your three teaspoons of cream cheese on one side. Fold the egg over the cream cheese; smoosh the egg down onto the cheese inside, and flip. Smoosh again, turn off the heat, then slide gently onto a plate.

Serve, and be prepared for the oohs, ahhs, and many kisses. I cannot promise you that they will be clean kisses, though.

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Sweet and Skinny Cookbook Twitter Party with Truvia and Marisa Churchill (Plus a Giveaway!)

Everyone loves a good party, right? Mark your calendars for June 28th, friends, because this one you won't want to miss! DESSERTS, people, we're talking desserts! YES! And even better? We're talking great-tasting desserts that WON'T punish your hips for eating 'em.

Can I get an amen?

On Tuesday, June 28th, you'll get the opportunity to join me as well as my fellow panelists Angela from FabFindFoodie.com, Brandi from DietsinReview.com, and Marla from FamilyFreshCooking.com as we chat it up with the lovely Marisa Churchill, acclaimed pastry chef and also from BRAVO Top Chef and Food Network Challenge fame, along with our sweeter-than-sweet sponsor, Truvia® natural sweetener, for the SWEET & SKINNY Recipe Twitter Party on Tuesday, June 28^th.

Adorable. Talented. Skinny. And bakes really awesome desserts for a living. I want to BE HER.

Marisa is celebrating the launch of her new cookbook, Sweet & Skinny: 100 Recipes for Enjoying Life’s Sweeter Side without Tipping the Scales this month. This “lightened-up” recipe book is full of tips and tricks on how to cut out calories and fat for delicious, guilt-free desserts (many of which feature Truvia).

Hello, my friend. You are my newest BFF. For realz.

Again, can I get an a-freakin'-men, here?

Marisa and the team behind the Truvia® brand will be baking some tweeting LIVE from Twitter Headquarters in San Francisco, CA (woohoo!) to help celebrate the debut of SWEET & SKINNY, and we want you to be a part of it with us!

Date: Tuesday, June 28
Time: 6:30-7:30 PM PST / 9:30-10:30 PM EST
Hosts: @MarisaChurchill and @Truvia
Panelists: @CrazyAdventures, @DietsinReview, @FabFindFoodie, @MarlaMeridith
Hashtag: #SweetandSkinny
Custom TweetGrid link here

I had some time to get to know Marisa in preparation for this party, and let me tell you, she is SO much fun, super-spirited, and really passionate about health and fitness, and these recipes? They are NO joke, people. This is one party to celebrate a cookbook that you do NOT want to miss.

Doesn't this look like something that you'd want to try to make at home?

PB&J cookies. OH YES SHE DID!

Or what about THIS heaven on a plate? Something I like to call "MINE!"

Spiced Chocolate Mousse. Good gravy, people. I could strap that bad boy to my face like a feedbag and not feel ashamed one bit. 

Want a chance to win a signed copy of Marisa's cookbook and some Truvia goodies?

To enter, leave a comment below telling me YOUR favorite recipe you'd love to try baking "Sweet and Skinny" style using Truvia® natural sweetener. For extra, unlimited entries, tweet about this party using the following link (and come back here to tell me you did, with your Twitter link):

"Join us 6/28 9:30pm ET for the #SweetandSkinny Recipe Twitter Party w/ @Truvia chef @MarisaChurchill & @CrazyAdventures http://bit.ly/kuXuqa"

I'll randomly draw the winner using Random.org and announce during the party.

I would love to see your hungry, er, smiling faces attend our Twitter shindig next week. It's going to be AWESOME!

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Tears. Of Pride. Of Thankfulness.

Right this very second, my husband is outside, mowing our new grass for the first time. In fact, it's been many years since he's had to mow grass at all (almost a decade), because the military housing folks did it for us.

This man is outside, pacing back and forth with the whir of this mower, gifted to us from our new neighbor across the way; a neighbor who always has the arms, tools and know-how to help us; a neighbor who might be a couple decades my husband's senior, but my husband sure has taken a liking to him (and so have I); a neighbor who has 'saved the day' many times for us already, in the less-than-three-weeks we've been living here; a neighbor who fixed up this mower he gifted us, 'just because' and gave it to us, because he could.

Watching my husband, with his epic red-haired beard he grows when he's on extended leave, proudly marching back and forth mowing away the uneven growth we worked and watered twice daily so hard for on our lawn, while our kids play with their new best-friends-for-life, light-sabering and bike-riding and basket-balling, as I stood there on my porch, watching Baby Dude run his ever-so-fastest to me to give me a simple hug, all while the sun begins to set, I simply broke into tears.

Tears of pride, tears of ridiculous happiness. Of luck and love and blessings more than I can count.

I am so grateful every day for being here, for sharing this life-changing experience with them.

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Settling Into Life

As the dust begins to besmirch our newly placed furniture, and crumbs can be found on the table at any moment, it is clear that the newness of the house is beginning to wane, and it is becoming more of a home rather than a strange/new place to live that houses our belongings.

My husband has stained/painted our fence a pretty "Redwood" color, and our trampoline has been assembled. (And by "our" trampoline, I mean, the new one we had to buy to replace the old after it was slashed before we moved. Another expense we weren't expecting.)

The kids have begun taking on their chores once again, with random marks on our white carpet coming up with little-to-no effort, and the pile 'o laundry still mounts, although is done much faster and more effortlessly with our newly purchased Whirlpool Duet front-loading washer and dryer from Sears.

I'm finding time to work out everyday, too, which is such a huge sanity-saver for me. I've dug out the ol' Wii Fit and EA Sports Active More Workouts and am hitting 'em hard, trying to work off the weight I've gained from stress and moving and restaurant eating and traveling and everything else. Especially with the heat so oppressive here, it's hard to find a decent time to run, I have to find alternatives to get my sweat on, yo.

My husband can't seem to get real estate and DIY off his brain, he's gone and found tons of shows to DVR/watch and ideas are floating in every which direction. He's also discovered a love of Whole Foods (our first duty station with one closeby). Lots of excitement about owning our first home, though.

And delicious, delirious naps from all the excitement.

Her awfully mis-matched outfit caused insta-sleep. I call this one the "Helmet Nap"

I can't say it enough - we love it here. So very, very much.

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Staying Cool This Summer with Flavored Water

Every day since we've gotten to San Antonio, it's been 100+ degrees outside. I am doing my best to keep 'em hydrated and cool, complete with a purified in-fridge water and ice system, as well as staying indoors during the hottest hours of the day (which seems like every hour, I won't lie), but for the kids that are too picky to drink plain water all the time, I have to get creative, and get flavored.

Unfortunately, once you mutter the words "flavored" in relation to food in today's society, it usually means artificial and fake flavoring. I am always careful to avoid that for my family. Not only am I having to get creative in getting flavored waters for my (picky) children to drink, I am having to be sure it meets my all-natural standards, too.

Collective Bias was curious about what sort of waters I purchase, being an all-natural family, and sent me on a shopping trip to Walmart to check out their goods, and see what I could find. You can see my full shopping trip here.

What did I ultimately take home from the "flavored water" section of Walmart?

Vitamin Water Zero, baby. And I'll tell you why: firstly, if water itself has zero calories, why on earth would I buy a flavored version of water that would suddenly tack on extra calories, both for myself and for my children? I believe that, if you're going to make water have a flavor, you'd better keep it no calories without adding fake stuff to it to make it taste great, and that's exactly what Vitamin Water does. Not to mention, they have several varieties for different needs - this isn't just a child drink - they have one with caffeine for us moms who could use a pick-me-up! Yes! Look!

Oh sweet Baby Jesus layin' in a manger,  this flavored water has caffeine! 

And, as if there needed to be icing on the cake (in this no-sugar scenario), how does Vitamin Water stay zero-calories yet sweeten it's flavored water?

They use Truvia. My love. That was such a sweet find, if I do say so myself. (Pun intended.)

With all the healthy, all-natural, Truvia-filled and flavored water goodness 'n stuff aside, the labels? Downright HILARIOUS! How could you NOT want to pay money for the thought that went into these?

Click to make bigger. Trust me - hilarity!

While I did thoroughly look at the flavored water category, out of everything offered, I couldn't not choose Vitamin Water. I wasn't looking for a sports drink, or juice, I was looking for a simple, no-calorie, flavored water that is good enough for my all-natural, no-crapola-added needs.

What about you? Do you drink flavored water? If so, what do you drink? And what are your concerns when you shop for it?

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Dear Salespeople. You've Been Warned.

I know this is your way to earn a living, but could you, just for a second, consider that the people on the other end of the new door on the new house you are knocking on are good people who don't deserve to be lied to? Please don't come to my door and lie, saying you're hired by the city to test our water. Please don't come to my door, as though the sky is falling, telling me we've killed our lawn, when anyone who knows anything knows sod has to take root, and isn't the best looking in the beginning, just so that I'll hire you to take care of it for me.

Be honest.
Be forthcoming.
Tell me the truth.
To me, the truth goes a long way to heightening my desire to WANT to pay you money, which is kind-of what you're after to begin with, yes?

Please don't come to my door selling magazines, reading from a card saying you want to go to college.
Please don't knock at my door, knocking the alarm company I already have to get me to sign up with you when you offer the same thing.

And the phone calls, holy hell! The second our phone was installed, the calls began. How? How do they know? How on earth is there a listing of us being new homeowners along with our brand spankin' new phone number that was minutes old?

Seriously thinking about getting a dog. A big, honkin', snarly-toothed Dog of Doom™ to park at my porch to scare off any liars and deceivers. One that has a heightened sense of smell for bullshit. One who has a taste for scammy salespeople.

Just because we signed on the dotted line to buy this house, doesn't mean we are made of money to throw away thousands to you. Please, treat me like a human being. Respect my privacy, MY HOME, my family, and just stop lying to people like me to earn a buck.

Consider this your warning. Next tactic, before the snarly dog, is a freakin' TAZER. Don't make me tazer your lying ass, mm'kay?

Ahem.

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Closing and Opening

One week after we closed, here I am, able to get online for the first time.

One week after we closed, we are almost 80% unpacked.
We closed on a Tuesday, and opened the door to our new home soon thereafter.
The carpets are as plush as the bathroom rugs you get at Target - so buttery soft beneath my toes. I have outlawed shoes being worn on them.
The kitchen has black appliances with "wheat" colored countertops, and hides toast crumbs well.
New kids bedroom furniture has been purchased and assembled, much to my husband's chagrin.
Lawn (almost) taking root. (And is killing us with this twice-a-day watering, since our lot is so large.)
New appliances purchased. Bright, shiny, and so lovingly making my household duties easier.
Bedrooms almost finished.

Our house is almost done.

OUR.
HOUSE.

.....

I was sitting on our front lawn while the kids rode their scooters and bikes. Baby Dude went walking with my oldest, rounded the corner, and came running into my arms. "Mommy, I wanna doe (go) in my house," he said to me.

"Where's your house, baby?"

"Dere (there)!"

And he pointed to our new house behind me. {heartswell}

.....

We were shopping for new bedding for the kids yesterday, and I filled out a customer discount card for "Anna's Linens" and on the form they asked the question "Do you own or rent?"

For the first time in my entire life, I was able to check "Own."

....

Pardon my absence while I revel in being a first-time homeowner for a little while longer. I'm busy playing house like I did when I was a child - dusting everything just-so, perfecting the decor, the furniture position, practically spit-shining it all to keep it new, and driving myself crazy constantly picking up after the kids. But I can't stop doing it, I am just too proud to stop loving it this way, despite my dragged-butt exhaustion.

And for those who are asking (you know who you are), I will post pictures of our completed house soon. As soon as the chaos ceases, and we feel a little more settled.

(P.S. In the meantime, since I'm back online and missed you all, can you fill me in? What have I missed?)

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